MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on Thursday, September 26, voiced out its “strong opposition” to the Senate bill that seeks to abolish it, saying was like “abandoning” the government’s war against illegal drugs.

“PDEA was created in 2002, as lead agency in the war against dangerous drugs. Abolishing of PDEA is nothing less than abandoning the same intent,” PDEA Deputy Director Gregorio Pimentel told the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs on Thursday.

The Senate panel was tackling Senate Bill No. 3 which seeks to create a Presidential Drug Enforcement Authority (PRDEA) that will be the supervising agency for the implementation of Republic Act  No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

The bill seeks to abolish the PDEA and the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), and give PRDEA mere supervisory powers.

At the hearing, Pimentel appealed to lawmakers to consider the view of PDEA. He said that the creation of the  PRDEA would not guarantee an improved campaign against illegal drugs.

“Government anti-drug programs and strategies are already in place. The abolition of PDEA and DDB, along with their powers and authority, will certainly displace and compromise these strategies [on] supply reduction, demand reduction, and harm reduction,” Pimentel said.

Instead of stripping the PDEA of law enforcement powers, Pimentel said it would be better for lawmakers to help modernize the agency through the following:

• State-of-the art equipment and devices
• Magna carta for PDEA employees
• Confer prosecutorial power over drug cases
• Strengthen authority to go after drug syndicates by introducing amendments to the anti-wiretapping law and the bank secrecy law

The DDB shared PDEA’s position.

Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the Senat panel chair, said that Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s intention in pushing for the creation of the PRDEA is to employ a “whole-of-government” approach in the campaign against illegal drugs.

Under the bill, the PRDEA would have 5 anti-drug bureaus on enforcement, prosecution, prevention, rehabilitation, and policy formulation.

If passed, Dela Rosa said that PDEA operatives can just join the military or the police that will be forming their own narcotics team.

In 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte ran on an anti-crime platform anchored on the prmomised to end the illegal drug problem in 3 to 6 months, but later admitted that the problem was so huge that it couldn’t be solved within his term.

Based on the latest government data, a total of 5,500 drug suspects had been killed in law enforcement operations. But human rights groups have pegged the number at 20,000 deaths, including vigilante-style killings in the campaign. – Rappler.com